The Chronicles of Darius Miles

We'll be continuing our player breakdowns as the summer weeks roll along here at Rip City Forever, but right now I'd like to something that is fast becoming one of the most intriguing subplots of the upcoming NBA season.

Charles Oakley wants to come back.

Wait, never mind - no one cares about that. He's 43. His last effective year was 1998. He has even less of a chance than Allan Houston. He has less of a chance than George Gervin. These guys just want attention, and so because of that I think we should just completely ignore them when they talk about coming back. At any rate, that's what I'm gonna do.

So, on to something more pressing. Let's talk about the Darius Miles situation. First of all, notice how it's not "Darius Miles" anymore; it's "The Darius Miles Situation". I seem to have a different take on the Darius Miles situation than most other Trail Blazers supporters, in that I don't completely hate his guts.

I was glad to see him come to Portland, and even happier when he finished out the end of the 2004 season red hot. I wanted to re-sign him and was glad we did, although it was for too much money. Since then, he has been riddled with injuries and has become a lightning rod for criticism of the Blazers and everything that was wrong with our franchise. But was the criticism valid?

I see four main things that contribute to Miles' terrible reputation around these parts:

The Maurice Cheeks Incident. During a film session, Miles started yelling at Cheeks, cursing him out in front of the team and openly (and correctly) stating that Cheeks would be gone by the end of the year. Now, keep in mind that Maurice Cheeks had a sterling reputation in Portland at this time. No, not for being a decent basketball coach, because he surely was not. I'm trying to think of a good name to call him... I think "blockhead" is sufficient. No, he had a good rep for being a nice guy. Sure, he was arguably the worst coach in our history, but did you see him help out that little girl who forgot the words to the national anthem? See, that's the stuff that really matter to certain sportswriters and media bigwigs, stupid human interest stories, and so it got played up and got national attention.

But can you really get on Miles' case for this? The way I see it, he was frustrated at how the team was playing, and he was frustrated at how his coach seemed oblivious to their fast downward spiral. He acted out, and maybe he shouldn't have, because he's a professional or whatever, but at least he actually cared. He cared enough to be frustrated at the team's mediocrity, and he cared enough to embarrass himself in a situation that was surrounded by a notoriously fickle media.

The Fine and Suspension. After the bust-up with Cheeks, the team fined him, and it was later discovered that the team had attempted to return the fine money to him in secret. Much of the bad press was given to Miles, when all of it should have gone towards John Nash and Steve Patterson, two dolts who couldn't have run a lemonade stand efficiently, much less a professional basketball team. If Miles was offered the money back, so what if he agreed to take it? That's like getting a "Bank Error in Your Favor" card in Monopoly. You just take the card, think to yourself "Alright!", and just take the money from the bank.

The Contract. Again, this wasn't anything to blame Miles for. This contract might have been the first one in NBA history where the player actually admitted to the media that it was "much more" than he was expecting. Yes, it was a bad contract, but it was probably the most logical at the time out of the big three contracts given out at this time: Miles, Randolph, and Ratliff. Think about it: Miles played superb in the season leading up to the new contract. He was young, he was a fan favorite, and he was so excited to play in Portland he would wear an old Drexler jersey around town. Meanwhile, Ratliff was extended by five years for almost $60 million when everyone knew he had terrible knees and was too old, and Randolph was a nutjob who couldn't play defense, jump, or pass, and he was handed a near-max deal. That's really something, for John Nash to sign Darius Miles to a $48 million dollar contract and only have it be the third worst contract given out in a year's time. You can't just be that bad at your job on accident; you have to really try.

The Interview. Read most of it here. I can't defend Darius here, because he does actually appear insane here, but I just can't help but being in awe of the sheer audacity of complaining about not having a bobble-head doll made of yourself in an interview with a leading newspaper that everybody reads. I don't know, maybe it's the sensationalist in me.

And maybe it's that same part of me that wants to see him come back. But by all accounts, his teammates like him and he wants to come back and play for us, and he's been working out at the practice facility non-stop this summer. Plus, we all know how good he can be when he actually tries and ignores his feelings of being disrespected and vilified, slights which he undeniably has suffered. Everybody I talk to want Darius gone, and they talk about him like he's a criminal who's corrupting the young guys on the team, but if you compare Miles to Zach Randolph, who only just recently got shipped out, Miles looks like a saint. Randolph has had many incidents with the law, ranging from dogfighting to drugs to alleged rape. Darius likes going to strip clubs, but Zach liked them so much that he went to a strip club when he was on bereavement leave from the team, and then skipped out on the bill. And as far as play on the basketball court - the real issue here - Randolph was constantly out of shape and was a terrible teammate.

There are three possibilities that exist now, seeing as we know he will not be retiring anytime soon:

1. Darius will be kept on the bench and not given a chance to play.
2. Darius will come back, get to play, and shipped off the minute we get any kind of offer.
3. Darius will come back, play well, and provide veteran leadership in a solid reserve role.

If you're not hoping for #3, I think it's time to stop living in the past.

TJH